Land trip

This past week I helped lead a winter camping trip for the senior high school students. Up here they call it going on the land. After about a six hour snowmobile trip, we arrived at a very secluded valley where there was a cabin and lots of places to set up tents. Beside the cabin was a small river with a pond in between rapids, and in the pond there were lots of arctic char. We spent most of the week fishing for char by jigging through the ice, although some of the students were spearing them in the rapids with a kakivak, a sort of spear with one central point with backward facing points on either side of it. All in all it was a great trip with mild temperatures in the day, lots of sunshine, and very light winds. The kids were really good. Get them out on the land and they become different people. They love it out there. In addition to the kids, and two teachers, we had two guides, a cook, and two other young men, one of whom owns the cabin. It was great not to be in class, and it is this sort of experience that I wanted to have when I came north. The trip in an out was very strenuous and I can see why snowmobiles don't last much more than three or four seasons up here. It was extremely hilly, and the wind blows the snow off many spots so we were travelling on bare ground. I towed a komatick with my snowmobile, total weight about 6-700 lbs. In icy spots it was difficult to to up hills, and even more exciting coming down. It is very hard on the machines and I wouldn't want to do it very often. Next week is back to regular classes with the exception of the grade 8/9 class which is going on its land trip. I only have a couple of more weeks to enjoy my snowmobile as I have promised to sell it. It has been a good investment in many ways.